Time for one of Roy's Mad posts =)

Games are meant to be fun right? and often people say "we had a laugh last night playing what ever game"

But humour never seems to be in the design document?

The only game I can think of that had comedy in it is the Ogres in Everquest scratching their bums.

I'm thinking it is time someone designed a game with comedy in mind what say ye?

The most memorable parts of a lot of games are the comic relief parts. Left 4 Dead was FANTASTIC in this aspect; they added a lot of humor-mostly through the conversations or 1-liners. But it didn't take away from the 'coolness' of the game. It was a great combination.

The problem with humor is that hearing a joke the second time is not nearly as funny. That reduces replay value by a LOT, and the dev's hopes for fat profits. The way to avoid this is keep the humor subtle(so you might miss the joke, but the next time 'get' it), or have a huge variety that changes every play-through.

I love Comedy in games...though there are different ways to go about doing it. I believe trying to find different and creative ways is the best way. for instance, the comedy can be something as simple as a rare item that you found in the world that is completely silly to have. but you are able to pick it up and use it in your inventory. For instance, in our video game we created a magic candle hidden in the world. When you swing it like a sword, it shoots balls of energy as a weapon. Silly, but unexpected.

There is humour in almost every single Metal Gear Solid Game. Portal is riddled with humour from start to finish. Quantum Conundrum as well.

Edit:
- Borderlands (Clap Trap)

Humour really can add another dimension to games if done well.

The funniest game I ever played was Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld Noir', an adventure game with more twists than a piece of rope! Not everyone's cup of tea but if you like Pratchetts humour it's one of the best.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/kingdoms-in...r#imagebox